Argument Won!

Cami and Graham were just arguing in another room.  It happens often that I don't really pay much attention.  But the conclusion caught my attention (and gave me the giggles.)

G:  issues some random insult.

C:  What you say is what you are!

G (yelling with irritation):  YOU'RE THE BEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!

Breaking Radio Silence

I feel like I dreamt about writing this post.  Or maybe it's just deja vu.  Lots of stuff happens, things that professional bloggers would be putting up in a heart beat.  But I go silent.  After a while I don't know what to write about.  So, here's a "I haven't got anything special to report.  I'm just posting something to get back in the habit"post.

So, there's this baby I know who isn't a baby anymore.  She goes to the cupboard to find Nutella multiple times a day.  She likes drawing on herself, the walls, & when she's cheeky-monkey, me.

I think I'll keep her anyway.

Graham's First Publication

Graham has a poem that's being included in the Power of Poetry -- Poems From the North East anthology this fall.  He wrote it as a class exercise in personification and the staff at his school submitted it for publication.  (I think it's called "Frightening Lightning.")

The deadly lightning stung the world with just one fingernail!
It also killed all of Asia and it electrocuted 3000 towers just by tapping them.
When it punched the sea all the sea creatures, scuba divers, boats and other people died.
Suddenly the dangerous hand belonging to the lightning grabbed a forest and chopped it down.
It stepped on a telephone wire and gave it so much electricity that it exploded.

She Talks!

So, I took an extended summer break from the blog.  Gracie is now correcting that.

She's two.  Very, very two.  Like her elder siblings, she is determined to do what mommy does:  help with laundry, put things away (wish they all still did this), & cook.  Also like her siblings, she's saving up her words until she's three.  This morning she insisted on helping with pancakes.  As we were standing at the stove, I chatted at her (since she doesn't usually say anything back), and said, "Gracie, you're a good cook.  Do you know that?"

Still looking at the pancake in the pan, she stated, "I know, Mommy."

She talks! (Her first sentence.)

Wales: Porthmadog Steam Train

 Monday, 1 April 2013.  Porthmadog, Wales.   We caught a steam train that took us about a mile & then dropped us off at a little museum.  It was cold.  But that didn't keep some kids from enjoying the ride.

Wales: An Easter Walk

 I could see a tower in the distance from our holiday cottage, so on Easter Sunday afternoon, I invited Cami to go for a walk with me to see if we could get find it.  It involved tromping down country roads, hiking through fields, crossing streams, resting by ruined buildings, & climbing up a steep hill.  A good adventure for us to have together.

Missing England Already: The Sky

 So, if you are related to me or saw the Facebook announcement, this won't be news.  But not everybody may know, so here you go:  we're moving home.  Not just "home" as in, we're moving back to the U.S.  "Home" as in, we're going back to the city of my birth. 

It's not immediate.  Jason's accepted a position at St. Louis University, but made it a condition that he'd start in September 2014.  So, we have fifteen months to say good.  To soak up as much of this wonderful place that I feel is truly where I belong.  So, I'll be putting up a lot of pictures in the future that aren't there for any other purpose than to feed my spirit when I'm missing home.

Wales: Peter Rabbit Found Us

Easter requires an egg hunt.  Even when you are on vacation in Wales. 

Makes Me Laugh

Graham just asked me, "Mom, do you want to hear some bad news?"

"What's your bad news, honey?" I asked.

"That I haven't any good news."

Tooth or Truth?

Graham just came to me & Jason to report that he "couldn't feel [his] wobbly tooth."  He thinks it was probably the thing that was "too hard to swallow" in his bedtime apple.  Nevertheless, it appears that it made it's way down his throat.

Still, Tooth Fairy visits are important.  And Jason had this conversation with him.

Jason: It's okay, the Tooth Fairy will come anyway.

Graham: Is the Tooth Fairy real?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think she's not real. Am I right?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think I'm right.... Is the Tooth Fairy a grown-up? I mean, is it you and Mommy?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think it is. Am I right?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think I'm right. But I want to know what you think.

Jason: I think you're probably right too.

The Artist

Graham came to me this morning, with a heart-broken expression.  In near-tears he choked out, "Mom, my room is a MASTERPIECE of a mess!"

Bunnies over Baby

I asked Gracie if she was Flopsie, Mopsie, & Cottontail.

Rosie interjected, "She can't be Flopsie, Mopsie, & Cottontail.  They're good people."

I see what opinion she has of her sister.

Love This Kid

Graham bounded into the kitchen just before supper time, "I smelled a rumbly tummy and it was in Mr. Graham."

Beautiful England

 All of these are just because.  I opened up my photo library and started uploading images that wow me.

Lyme Park

 Some time last spring, a group went to Lyme Park -- the Pemberley of BBC's Pride & Prejudice.  Just some random photos that I don't want to forget.

This is the pond that made Colin Firth famous.